Shares of Nvidia fell as much as 8.8 percent in a single trading day after reports of an internal memo in which chief executive Jensen Huang admitted an extramarital affair. The affair reportedly involved a former manager of Singapore-based data center firm Megaspeed, whom US authorities are said to suspect of spying for China. Nvidia’s board has launched an independent investigation.
The company said its board had no reason to believe sensitive information was leaked or that national security was threatened. The affair reportedly weakens Huang’s negotiating position with the White House on chip export controls.
Midterms add to the pressure
Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress in the US midterm elections, which triggered a broad sell-off in tech stocks across US, Asian and European markets. Nvidia shares were down 7 percent at the Monday open, and the company has lost 30 percent of its market value from October highs, or 1.4 trillion US dollars.
The Nasdaq 100 lost 2.5 trillion US dollars in market value. The S&P 500 fell about 5 percent and the Dow Jones 4 percent. The Nikkei 225 dropped roughly 10 percent in a single day, while the DAX, which hit a record on Wednesday, fell 3.7 percent by the end of the week.
Regulation and oil
Newly elected Democratic governors in Texas and Ohio are reportedly pushing for stricter regulation and possible moratoria on data center construction. Analyst Jakub Roschlitz of eToro said the market is already weighing the sustainability of AI infrastructure build-out, its financing, and the risk that a Democratic Congress will slow data center construction.
Brent crude fell as much as 5.6 percent and dropped below 94 dollars a barrel. By our market data, the S&P 500 closed at 7,520.93 points on 10 November 2026, down 0.38 percent on the day.
Data: S&P Dow Jones Indices
